Displaying items by tag: Zay Alexander

A quick disclaimer for this review: Couch Penny Ensemble's Everybody, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, is written with a caveat for anyone who dares to perform it. At the start of each performance, the actors are randomly assigned their roles by lottery, creating 120 possible cast combinations. In other words, the Everybody I saw will likely not be the Everybody you see. This structure demands something borderline absurd from its cast: each actor must memorize the entire script, remain flexible until the show closes, and sacrifice the comfort of traditional rehearsals.

What’s more astonishing is that the performance I saw was effectively unrehearsed yet never unprepared. It was incredible, and knowing it was done only once, just for this audience, is an experience you can’t get anywhere else. Rather than feeling unpolished or improvisational, the production felt confident, precise, and alive—a balance that speaks not only to the performers’ skills but also to the steady hand of director Greta Mae Geiser. It is the kind of theatrical gamble that only Jacobs-Jenkins would demand—and that only the right creative team could successfully meet.

For my production, the role of Everybody was played by Renzo Vincente. As the main character, Vincente was nothing short of phenomenal. His facial expressions, genuine tears, and overall emotional execution gave me goosebumps. There was an openness to his performance that made Everybody’s fear, confusion, and longing feel immediate and shared, and he truly left every part of himself on the stage, perfectly portraying everybody.

The rest of the cast – Caitlin Frazier, Jessica Posey, Ellie Duffey, and Dryden Zurawski, the other “Everybodies” – were randomly assigned one of four other roles, each encompassing three distinct characters. These twelve figures function less as traditional “characters” and more as personified concepts, broad, sometimes exaggerated reflections of the forces and relationships that shape everybody’s life. The actors who were not selected to play Everybody must step into their assigned parts with no prior expectation of fit. The result is an entertaining inconsistency that works entirely in the production’s favor: across the twelve roles, there ends up being a spontaneous mix of uncannily fitting performances alongside equally impressive but parodic ones. At any given moment, there is no way to predict who will enter the stage with manic sincerity or with hilariously inflated vanity, but it is clear throughout that each of the five actors possesses the range and control to deliver any role with intention and impact.

An unspecified role is not a prerequisite for a great performance, however, as Everybody also features four additional, standardly cast roles. Even with a fixed assignment, the demands of the show are formidable. The amount of memorization required for Usher (Jodianne Loyd), who establishes the world of the play with omniscient authority, is no easy task. A final shoutout goes to Zay Alexander, who not only delivered a personable performance as Death but also sang and played guitar hauntingly.

By rejecting conventional polish altogether, Everybody makes room for humor, heart, and an unmistakable dedication from its incredible cast.

Everybody is running at Greenhouse Theater Center through December 21st. Tickets are available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36644/production/1258591.